Fishcakes and Kikaichu
by yaywords
Summary: Finding out about Naruto's parentage, the Aburame clan adopt him! Who knows what will happen? Only time will tell!  Rated T for later chapters  Not Yaoi
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: ** In no way, shape or form do I own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. Not me.

**Fishcakes and Beetles**

_**A/N**_: This is a first-fic thing…just an idea I had. Can't believe how few "Naruto-gets-adopted" stories I've heard of. Only one. Amazing, isn't it?

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

_**Prologue**_

"Demon…shouldn't be…live…"

Those were the words muttered by the denizens of Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, accompanied by cold glares at the small boy on the streets.

He had never known why. It was a mystery, to him at least. He had never done anything wrong to them…did he?

The boy in question was trying to ignore the murmurs and glares coming from the crowd, his somewhat tanned left hand occasionally going up to scratch his head amongst his spiky-looking, bright-blonde hair, his cerulean blue eyes darting around.

He was looking for an inattentive stall-owner. He didn't like stealing food, but all of the grocers would either kick him out of their stores the moment they noticed him, or they'd massively overcharge him, selling him over-ripe fruits, disease-ridden vegetables, rotten meat…the list went on. And any time he tried to complain…

"Shut up, demon! You deserve no better! Now get out, now!"

More harsh words. Nobody seemed to care for the boy. Well, nobody except for Hokage-jiji, Teuchi-san and Ayame-neechan…

Truly, life was cruel to the young Uzumaki Naruto. He nearly had to live off ramen, which, although he loved, he knew wasn't healthy to eat ALL the time.

Aha! Naruto noticed a baker, tossing an only slightly-stale loaf of bread over his shoulder, into a bin. He wondered why…in simple, broken words, of course. Even as a six-year-old, Naruto wasn't really capable of cohesive speech, as he had never been taught. His literate and social skills had been neglected, if not actively impaired by the villagers.

Naruto quickly leaped forwards, diving over the bin, grabbing the loaf out of midair, rolling, landing on his feet, legs already pumping to propel him into an alleyway, before anyone even noticed what had happened.

Or so he thought, as he turned the corner with a skid, checking to make sure nobody had followed him down the alleyway off the market square.

Seeing nobody, the young boy sprinted off, unknowing of two masked figures on the rooftops, stealthily keeping up with him. If he were to look up, he would see a purple-haired woman with a mask like a cat's face, and a silver-haired man with a dog-looking mask, both wearing olive-coloured flak jackets over black shirts.

As it was, Naruto kept running, unaware of his two followers, and another watcher, in an office, at the top of a red tower, near the Hokage Monument. Said monument was visible through the long window in previously mentioned office.

"Need…get…'par'm'nt…" thought the child, as he ran from the majority of the village, the nicer parts, into…the less desirable living-places.

As Naruto reached his apartment, he slowed down to a stop, looking around before opening the door. The lock was smashed, and the time the boy had tried to padlock the door, it seemed as though a hacksaw had cut through the bar, rendering it useless. He hadn't tidied that up, so the remains of the padlock were lying at the door. Naruto stepped inside, closing the door and pulling up a large patch of the rough carpeting in the graffiti-covered hallway.

The pulled-up patch revealed a trapdoor, which he opened, quietly humming a tuneless tune to himself, going down into the basement, pulling down the carpet and trapdoor after him.

Naruto flicked a switch, turning on the lights. Simple over-hanging lights, with paper covers.

The basement was, surprisingly, well furnished.

A rough, rectangular rug on the wooden floor, a ripped-up plush chair, a scuffed and dirty table…a shower-cubicle, a refrigerator. The last two had been hard to get…

He harrumphed, sitting in the chair with a sigh.

The moment he sat down, though, he leaped straight up off the chair, landing in a crouch, staring fearfully at the trapdoor and ladder leading down from it.

People were in the apartment! They were standing on the trapdoor!

Naruto calmed down considerably when he heard a voice he recognized. "Kitsune-san!" he thought, straightening up.

Kitsune-san seemed to be on guard detail for him often…maybe she volunteered.

He cautiously stepped over to the ladder, quietly climbing up. His attempts at stealth failed, however, mostly due to the fact that Kitsune-san was opening the trapdoor just as he reached it.

Kitsune-san was crouching, looking at Naruto. "Uzumaki-san, Hokage-sama has requested your presence. Please follow me."

Naruto climbed out of the basement, hesitating while he nodded. Kitsune-san picked him up and put him on her back, saying "Hold on, Uzumaki-san."

She closed the trapdoor and covered it over with the carpeting, before rocketing out of the door, which bounced off the wall and closed with the force of her hitting into it on her way out.

Naruto had a giddy grin on his face as Kitsune-san leaped onto the rooftops, hopping towards the Hokage Tower.

Soon, they arrived, and she let him slide off her back, her muddy-red hair hanging down. He bowed gratefully, before running inside, and along the spiral-ramp-corridor, up to Hokage-jiji's office, wondering why his grandfather-figure wanted to see him.

Usually, they only met on the tenth of each month, to talk (Sandaime talking, Naruto listening), have lunch (eat in Ichiraku's, much to the chagrin of Hiruzen's wallet) and then Hokage-jiji would see him off.

Naruto arrived at the door, hearing voices within, he knocked before opening the door and peering in.

"Ah, Naruto, there you are. Naruto, meet Aburame Shibi. He is the head of the Aburame clan in Konoha."

Naruto bowed, a smile on his face. "Hello, Uzumaki-san."

"Now, Naruto, take a seat. You will be surprised by what I have to say, so taking it sitting down will be safer. Wouldn't want you tripping and hurting yourself in surprise, would we?" said Hiruzen, chuckling.

Naruto sat, wondering what the surprise was, looking at the Sandaime.

Shibi also sat, idly wondering what Naruto's reaction to the news would be.

"Naruto…After finding out about certain information, which for your own safety I cannot tell you, Shibi's clan would like to adopt you."

To say Naruto was shocked would be a massive, massive understatement. He had never had such a surprise, and probably never would. Adoption? Why would anybody want to adopt him? He was a small boy, malnourished, orphaned, on the streets, hated

by the people of his village… No use to anyone. So why would he, of all the orphans and homeless children in the village, be adopted? It was another mystery.

However, it was a shining ray of hope piercing through the dark, stormy clouds of Uzumaki Naruto's life.

One that would turn his existence a one-eighty into a swarm of beetles!

Naruto did the first thing he could think of.

He stood up, tears in his eyes, repeatedly saying "Th'nk 'ou, th'nk 'ou, th'nk 'ou, th'nk 'ou, th'nk 'ou," while bowing to the Sandaime and Shibi again…and again… and again.

One Sarutobi Hiruzen grinned a wide grin, reaching from eye to eye, lighting up his old, wrinkled face. "I'll take that as a yes, then. Fortunately, I expected that to be the answer, so I filled out all the paperwork already…just need to stamp it." He said, his grin widening, before he schooled his expression back into a grandfatherly face, exuding an aura of calm.

He inwardly shuddered, amazed, in a sick way, at the amount of paperwork he had had to do.

Paperwork was, indeed, his least favourite thing in existence. Especially in large quantities.

_**A/N**_: Ta-da! First chapter. I hope you enjoyed this.

Please review, in the words of another author, can't remember who he is exactly – Reviews are like crack to authors! We need our fix, dagnabbit!


	2. Chapter One

_Fishcakes and Kikaichu_

_**A/N: **_Chapter One are here! Amazed! Yar, this be the second chapter…and hopefully you like it :3 I'm liek totally hoping for lots of reviews. Also, anyone who'd like beta-ing, well…send me a message, I try not to make any mistakes while writing the chapters, but it's hard. Anyway…

ENJOOOOOOOY!

Chapter One

To say Naruto was flabbergasted, shocked and absolutely amazed would be an understatement. He was barely conscious, the shock of the news coursing through his body…and then he wasn't conscious. He'd be fine in a few minutes, but this was entirely unexpected.

"_**Oh, so my jailor's paid a visit? How nice. Not."**_

"Wha…?" Naruto was confused. Where was he? What was that voice? What did the piece of paper on the giant bars say? Why was it there? All of those and more were the unanswered questions bouncing around his head as he lay in the waterlogged sewers of his mindscape.

As he stood up, the voice began to speak again. _**"To answer your questions, you're in your mindscape, the voice you're wondering about is that of myself – the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the piece of paper says 'Seal', and it's there to keep me in this blasted, godforsaken cage."**_

And then, due to the very little Japanese known by Naruto… "Wha?"

The sounds of a gargantuan head banging on a wall echoed throughout the sewers of Naruto's mindscape.

"_**Never you mind, kit. You'll find out eventually…when those fools that play with bugs get around to making you literate. After they teach you Japanese, hopefully…"**_

Naruto had no idea what was going on. Then he woke up. "Naruto, are you okay? Have some water." A hand reached out in front of his blurry vision, holding a cup filled with some kind of blue-ish liquid. He accepted the cup with shaky hands, holding it to his mouth to take a drink.

Shibi and Hiruzen were not very surprised, considering the situation. Any boy would be surprised if he were to be adopted. Fainting would be the norm.

"Th'nk 'ou…" were the words coming from Naruto, having finished gulping down the water. He had a grateful look on his face, now wondering what would happen next.

"Well, now it's time for you to get home and pack your things, Naruto. Go on, don't worry."

Naruto grinned, a genuine ear-to-ear grin, instantly brightening up the day's prospects for Sarutobi and Shibi… even if said prospects were paperwork and introducing Naruto to the Aburame household, respectively.

"Goodbye, Hokage-sama. I hope you have a good day," said Shibi, bowing as he left, herding a happy and hyperactive Naruto out with him. A grin could be seen on the Hokage's face. "Oh, I will, Shibi. I will…mwuahahahaha."

Shibi thought he heard an odd noise as he closed the door to the Hokage's office. "Was he…laughing? Evilly? Hokage-sama hasn't laughed evilly since he was small…"

Mentally shrugging it off, he continued, before he had an idea. He said "Naruto, hold on tight," as he picked the little boy up and put him on his back. Making sure the child had a good grip, he pushed some chakra to his legs, before releasing it as he leaped.

For a few seconds he floated above the rooftops, before falling to hit the ground running, moving at a leisurely pace(to him at least, to Naruto it was as if the man had broken into a dead sprint). Soon enough they arrived at Naruto's apartment, where he walked in through the door.

Wincing at the badly-kept building, Shibi allowed Naruto off his back, sending one of his female kikaichu to land on Naruto's back. He was considerably surprised (although he didn't show it) to see the child lift up a patch of carpet, before opening a trapdoor, which Naruto proceeded to step into.

Naruto hummed tunelessly to himself as he went down into the basement, before he grinned and opened a disguised door in the wall, about the height of his head. He reached in and took out a bag, which he quickly opened to reveal…Lots and lots of cups of instant ramen? Before closing the bag, and slinging it over his back.

He then proceeded to climb back up out of the basement, into the hallway, before pushing down the trapdoor and covering it over with the bit of carpet.

Shibi checked in the bag, making sure Naruto had everything he needed, and stopped, his jaw dropped, glasses fallen onto his neck, revealing a "What the FUUUUUUUUUUUU!" expression on his face, his raised collar having flopped down…somehow.

Shaking his head, he quickly replaced his glasses and fixed his collar, schooling his face into his normal, passive expression. "Are those your only clothes, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded, causing Shibi to frown, before taking a small scroll from his pocket, sealing the bag inside, before replacing the scroll. He helped Naruto back onto his back, before hopping onto the rooftops.

Soon, they reached the Aburame clan house, where Shibi hopped off the rooftops to land in a crouch before the main gate.

With nary but a slight nod in the direction of the guards, he walked in, letting Naruto down off his back, onto his own two small feet.

Naruto was amazed. He couldn't put the sheer size of the Aburame clan household into words. Admittedly he knew very few words, but still. Even someone who had memorized the definitions of every single size-based word in a dictionary would be hard pressed to think of one, if they were as small as he.

From his perspective, it was practically as big as the village. It could've sprawled for miles and miles, as far as he knew!

So he was amazed. That was established, anyway. Now for a look around…

…Unbelievable! All he could see was a house, but it was bigger than the Hokage's Tower! Amazing!

He couldn't believe he was going to live here. Hold on…

There were bugs flying everywhere! Awesome! Naruto KNEW this place was awesome!

Quite suddenly, a voice appeared in his head. _**"Oi, kit. If you can hear me, nod once." **_Due to the poor boy being very, very shocked, he instantly obeyed. _**"Good. You don't tell anyone about me, unless someone SPECIFICALLY asks you, okay?"**_

Another nod. Naruto figured the voice was coming from someone friendly enough, so he just kept staring at everything, wide-eyed. He tugged at the sleeve of Shibi, causing a glance down at him. "What is it, Naruto?"

"Why...there….bugs?" Shibi instantly realized what Naruto was talking about, it being considerably obvious. "There are bugs flying around everywhere because the Aburame clan are special, in that we all have bugs contained in our bodies from birth. We will have to do something that will, most likely, be considerably painful to allow the bugs, named kikaichu, into your body. Fortunately for you, it will be over quite quickly."

Naruto quickly broke into a wide, wide grin. Pain for a short time was totally worth having bugs inside your body, easily! No matter how much pain it was, Naruto was perfectly sure he'd be okay.

"Speaking of that…I believe the earlier it is done, the less painful it is. Thus, logic states we should do it now. Come, Naruto."

Shibi walked off on a side-path, Naruto running to keep up with the tall man's brisk stride. Soon, they arrived at a concrete, grey building, basically a circular box. Shibi opened the heavy, steel door to allow Naruto in, the child not wondering about why the building was so solid.

A large maroon circle was painted on the floor, several "chains" of extremely small kanji going from the cardinal points of the compass on the circle to a smaller circle in the centre. "Stand in the middle of that circle, Naruto." Complying, Naruto waited…and then tensed up every single muscle in his body, forcing himself not to scream at the sudden pain that stabbed through his entire body, as if he was being lit on fire, electrified and ripped to tiny shreds. At the same time.

All that while effectively having centimetre-wide holes cut out of his flesh. On the molecular level. Also several empty sacs being created in his body – it was an extremely painful experience. Naruto finally released his tensed muscles, collapsing on the floor in a gasping heap, the kanji covering most of the floor having been glowing during the process stop emitting an eerie blood-coloured light inside the room.

Naruto felt…different. Calmer, for one. And…He could feel the vibrations of air more. And he had an odd feeling that something was missing…

_**A/N:**_ Da. Hope you enjoyed, not much to say… Oh, something I want to get out there – Reviews like "good, hope there's more to come" or similar, are not what I want. They are no use to me. Constructive criticism is wanted – please give. But small things like the example I gave are…No thanks. Not helping the story any, are they?

Also, I probably won't answer questions if they're asked in reviews. My memory sucks too badly for me to remember what they are when I'm typing this :3

Anyway, as before – PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are STILL like crack! They won't change any time soon!


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